Art of refining oils



l July ,'12, 1927.

C. LEAVER ART oF REFINING o1Ls Filed lMarch 1l. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 12, 41.927. C' LEAVER I ART 0F REFINING OILS Fild March V11. 1921 2 sheets-snee: 2

coooooo ooooooooooo oooooo i Patented July 12, 1927.

I UNITED STATES CHARLES LEA'VEB,

F IMPEROYAL, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA, ASSIGNOB TO IMPERIAL OIL, LIMITED, 'A CORPORATION 0F CANADA.

ART or REFINING orLs.

Application tiled March 11, 1921, Serial No. 451,532, and in Canada August' 13, 1920.

The present .invention relates to 'the reining of hfydrocarbon oils and particularly Cil to their re ning by treatment with sulfuric acid, and will be clearly understood from the following description thereof, illustratedpby the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an arrangement of apparatus suitable for carrying out the present invention. Figure 2 is a longitudinal view through a portion of a mixing tube, showing the internal details of its construction.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the upper part ot a treating tank,

i'a-Il Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 3.

In accordance with the resent invention the oil to be refined is initially treated with sulfuric acid, for example of 66 -Baum gravity, and may be subsequently treated with alkaline solutions, such as a solution of caustic soda, to eiect its neutralization` and may be finally desulfurized or .sweetcned by means of the usual doctor'or sodium plumbate solution. AThe respective treatments of the o'il are effected while the latter is in 4continuous movement through the a paratus and means are provided Where y a thorough intermixture of the oil with the treating liquid is eit'ected in the course of its movement.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, oil is introduced into the s ystem through the pilpe 5 entering the mixing tube 6 through w ich it travels in the direction indicated y the arrow. Durin its movement it is thor, oughly 'intermixe with the initial acidtreating liquid, which is preferably an acid solution derived from 'the `treatment with 66 acid of oil which has already been preliminarily subjected to the action of a weaker acid or acid solution. In the system illustrated the acid and the 'oil travel in opposite directions, 'the acid irst actingi u on oil which has been initially treate with acid solution, and the acid solution used for this preliminary treatment is derived from the strong acid b its action on this preliminaril -treated oil. The acid solution enters the mixing tube through the pi e 7 `and travels therethrough in the same irection as the oil.

The construction of the mixing tube will be clearly understood by reference to Fig. 2,

which shows a sectional view of a portion thereof. The mixing tube is formed by an outer tube 8, within which 'are arranged a plurality of longitudinally aligned pipe sections 9. These pipe sections are capped at their ends by means of the imperorate caps 10, the caps of the adjacent pipe sections abutting against eachother. The pipe sections 9 are supported in position in tube 8 by means of the rings 11 arran ed midway of the pipe sections, these rings eing machined so as to hold the pipe section 9 securely and to'fit ktightly in the tube 8. The pipe sections are provided with numerous perforations on each side of the su porting rings 11. The oil and acid so ution passing through the mixing tube are forced by the construction of the latter to follow the courseindicated by the arrows in Fi 2; that is, they are forced by the first c? the rings l1 to ente-r 'the first pipe section 9 through the perforations therein, and by the cap 10 at the end of the latter to pass out into the annular space surrounding the pipe section.` A similar arrangement and `con struction of the succeeding ipe sections causes the mixture of oil and acid solution to travel in a similar manner through them, with the result that the liquids travel a zigzag path through the mixing tube, flowing into and out of the perforated pi ie sections therein, and are very thoroug ly intermixed.

The mixture of oil and acid solution passes out of the mixing tube 6 into the settlin tank 12 in whichl a separation of the acid slud e rom 'the oil takes place. The sludge, whic settles to the bottom, is drawn ofi.' through the valved ipe 13 and the oil passes out of the sett ingtanlr through the -pipe 14 whichconveys it tothe lower portion of the treating tank 15. The treating tank is provided interiorly with su erposed baffles, the construction of whic is indicated clearly in Figs. 3 and 4Fig. showing a portion of the 'treating tank in longitudinal section and Fi t showing a transverse section thereof on t e line 4'4.

vThe baiiles are formedby the upwardlytapering perforated cones 16 of sheet metal or of suitable refractory material, and from which depend the conical frustra 17, which are open at their bottoms. At their lower `edge the cones 16 are lprovided with upstanding rims or Ranges 18. The lower Hlt edges et haes l@ and the upper edges oit haiiles 1'? are secured to the rings 19, which are secured to the wall oit the tank. heid enters the treating tank through the pipe 20 above the uppermost baille 16. 'lhe acid travels downwardly through the tank, inasmuch as its density is considerably higher than that ot the oil, and the oil travels upwardly through the tank in counter-current to the acid. rlhe arrangement of the baffles 16 and 17, and of the pert'orations thereof results in an intimate contact between the particles ot the oil and acid in their travel through the tank. The acid sludge collects in the bottom of the treating tank and is withdrawn through the pipe 2l., and :torced into the pipe through which it enters the mining tube 6. The pump 22 may be provided in the line 2l to aid the movement ot' the sludge.

lhe acid-treated oil leaves the treating tank through the pipe 23, which conveys it to the settling tank 24, from which the oil passes through the pipe 25 into a wash tank 26. Bottoni settlings from the settling tank 24 are drawn off through pipe 27. Wash Water is supplied into wash tank 26 through pipe 28 and settlings are removed therefrom through pipe 29. From the wash tank 2G the oil passes through pipe 30 into settling tank 31, from which settlings are drawn oli' through pipe 32. The treated oil passes through pipe 33 into the top of mixing tube 34, into which the alkali or soda solution enters through pipe 35. The oil and alkali solution travel through the mixing tube together, being thoroughly interinixed, and enter the settling tank 36, in which the alkali solution separates to the bottom and is Withdrawn through the valved pipe 37. The oil rises to the top of the settling tank 36 and passes out through the pipe 38 into the settling tank 39 which it enters at a point somewhat above the bottom of the tank. Settlings are removed from tank 39 through penuria pipe ttl, and the treated oil passes oil through pipe del, which may lead to a storage tank, it desired.

When sulfur is present in the oil or naphtha as sulturetted hydrogen compounds, it is advantageous to dissolve litharge in the soda solution before treating the oil there with. 'lhe weak soda-lithrage solution, after removal troni settling tank 36 through pipe 3l', is forced by pump Ll2 through pipe i3 into settling tank dll, where lead Sullid is settled out. The weak solution may then he run into storage tank e5. lron'i tank @to the weak solution may be withdrawn into mining tank 46, where it is made up to its original strength by the addition of soda and litharge. rThis solution is then returned by pump 47 through pipe 35 to mixing tube 3ft.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the details ot' a particular process for carrying it into edect and the apparatus for use in connection therewith, it is not intended that these details shall be regarded 4as limitations upon the scope of the invention, except in so lar as included in the accompanying claims.

l claim:

l. The process of treating oils which coniprises flowing the oil and a partially spent treating liquid concurrently t irough battling obstructions, separating out the sludge, then flowing 'the treated oil in countercurrent to a strearn'of fresh treating liquid, the result-I ing partially spent treating liquid being used' in the reliininary treatment of fresh oil.

2. T ie process of treating oils which comprises flowing the oil and acid sludge concurrently through baiiin obstructions, se arating out the sludge, tien flowing the oi counter current to a stream of fresh sulfurie acid, separating the sludge from this stepiof treatment and flowing it with freshoil through the tiret step of treatment.

CHARLES LEAVER. 

